Virginia County Histories

Several European expeditions, including a group of Spanish Jesuits, explored the Chesapeake Bay during the 16th century. In 1583, Queen Elizabeth I of England granted Walter Raleigh a charter to plant a colony north of Spanish Florida. In 1584, Raleigh sent an expedition to the Atlantic coast of North America. Initially the name “Virginia” applied to the entire coastal region from South Carolina to Maine, plus the island of Bermuda.

The London Company was incorporated as a joint stock company by the proprietary Charter of 1606, which granted land rights to this area. The Company financed the first permanent English settlement at Jamestown. Named for King James I, it was founded in May 1607 by Christopher Newport. In 1619, colonists took greater control with an elected legislature called the House of Burgesses. With the bankruptcy of the London Company in 1624, the settlement was taken into royal authority as a British crown colony.

Life in the colony was perilous, and many died during the “starving time” in 1609. By 1624, only 3,400 of the 6,000 early settlers had survived. However, European demand for tobacco fueled the arrival of more settlers and servants. The headright system tried to solve the labor shortage by providing colonists with land for each indentured servant they transported to Virginia. African workers were first imported in 1619, and their slavery was codified in 1654.

JOHN W. WAYLAND, PH.D.,A HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY VIRGINIA. , RUEBUSH-ELKINS COMPANY, 1912

JOHN W. CAMPBELL,A HISTORY OF VIRGINIA FROM ITS DISCOVERY TILL THE YEAR 1781: WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF ALL OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED CHARACTERS, J. W. CAMPBELL & M. CAREY, 1813

ALEXANDER STUART,A NARRATIVE OF THE LEADING INCIDENTS OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FIRST POPULAR MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA IN 1865 TO RE-ESTABLISH PEACEFUL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN STATES AND OF THE SUBSEQUENT EFFORTS OF THE “COMMITTEE OF NINE,” IN 1869, TO SECURE THE RESTORATION OF VIRGINIA TO THE UNION, W.E. JONES, 1888

JOHN W. H. PORTER,A RECORD OF EVENTS IN NORFOLK COUNTY, VIRGINIA, FROM APRIL 19TH, 1861, TO MAY 10TH, 1862, WITH A HISTORY OF THE SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OF NORFOLK COUNTY, NORFOLK CITY AND PORTSMOUTH WHO SERVED IN THE CONFEDERATE STATES ARMY OR NAVY. , W. A. FISKE, PRINTER AND BOOKBINDER, 1892

LEWIS W. BURTON, RECTOR OF ST JOHNS CHURCH,ANNALS OF HENRICO PARISH, DIOCESE OF VIRGINIA, AND ESPECIALLY OF ST. JOHN’S CHURCH, THE PRESENT MOTHER CHURCH OF THE PARISH, FROM 1611 TO 1884. , WILLIAMS PRINTING COMPANY, 1904

HENRY HOWE,EXCERPT FROM HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF VIRGINIA; CONTAINING A COLLECTION OF THE MOST INTERESTING FACTS, TRADITIONS, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, ANECDOTES, &C. RELATING TO ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES, TOGETHER WITH GEOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL DESCRIPTIONS. TO WHICH IS APPENDED, AN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. , BABCOCK & CO, 1845

JOHN T. GOOLRICK AUTHOR OF THE LIFE OF GENERAL HUGH MERCER IRISHMEN IN THE CIVIL WAR ETC,HISTORIC FREDERICKSBURG THE STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. , WHITTET & SHEPPERSON, 1922

JOHN T. GOOLRICK ,HISTORIC FREDERICKSBURG; THE STORY OF AN OLD TOWN, WHITTET AND SHEPPERSON, 1922

WILLIAM S. FORREST,HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES OF NORFOLK AND VICINITY: INCLUDING PORTSMOUTH AND THE ADJACENT COUNTIES, DURING A PERIOD OF TWO HUNDRED YEARS : ALSO, SKETCHES OF WILLIAMSBURG, HAMPTON, SUFFOLK, SMITHFIELD, AND OTHER PLACES, WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL OBJECTS OF INTEREST IN EASTERN VIRGINIA, LINDSAY & BLAKISTON, 1853

HISTORICAL SKETCH BEDFORD COUNTY VIRGINIA.

THOMAS LEWIS PRESTON,HISTORICAL SKETCHES AND REMINISCENCES OF AN OCTOGENARIAN.

DE HASS,HISTORY OF THE EARLY SETTLEMENT AND INDIAN WARS OF WESTERN VIRGINIA: EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE VARIOUS EXPEDITIONS IN THE WEST, PREVIOUS TO 1795 : ALSO, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF COL. EBENEZER ZANE, MAJOR SAMUEL M’COLLOCH, LEWIS WETZEL, GENL. ANDREW LEWIS, GENL. DANIEL BRODHEAD, CAPT. SAMUEL BRADY, COL. WM. CRAWFORD, AND OTHER DISTINGUISHED ACTORS IN OUR BORDER WARS1851

PULASKI COUNTY, VIRGINIA: A HISTORIC AND DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH DESIGNED TO SHOW FORTH THE NATURAL ADVANTAGES, RESOURCES AND GENERAL ADAPTABILITY OF THE BANNER COUNTY OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA, TO AGRICULTURE, CATTLE RAISING, AND ALSO COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES, 1907

THOMAS K. CARTMELL,SHENANDOAH VALLEY PIONEERS AND THEIR DECEDENTS: A HISTORY OF FREDERICK COUNTY, VIRGINIA FROM ITS FORMATION IN 1738 TO 1908, EDDY PR. CORP, 1909

T. K. CARTMELL CLERK OF THE OLD COUNTY COURT,SHENANDOAH VALLEY PIONEERS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS.

THOMAS K. CARTMELL,SHENANDOAH VALLEY PIONEERS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS: A HISTORY OF FREDERICK COUNTY, VIRGINIA, FROM ITS FIRST FORMATION IN 1738 TO 1908, COMPILED MAINLY FROM ORIGINAL RECORDS OF OLD FREDERICK COUNTY, , 1909

LUCULLUS MCWHORTER,THE BORDER SETTLERS OF NORTHWESTERN VIRGINIA FROM 1768 TO 1795 EMBRACING THE LIFE OF JESSE HUGHES AND OTHER NOTED SCOUTS OF THE GREAT WOODS OF THE TRANS-ALLEGHENY, REPUBLICAN PUB. CO.

JEDEDIAN HOTCHKISS,THE CITY OF STAUNTON, AUGUSTA COUNTY, VIRGINIA, AND THE SURROUNDING COUNTRY THEIR CONDITION, RESOURCES AND ADVANTAGES, AND THE INDUCEMENTS THEY OFFER TO THOSE SEEKING HOMES OR PLACES FOR BUSINESS, INVESTMENTS, ETC, D.E. STRASBURG , 1878

ALEXANDER BROWN,THE FIRST REPUBLIC IN AMERICA: AN ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN OF THIS NATION, WRITTEN FROM THE RECORDS THEN (1624) CONCEALED BY THE COUNCIL, RATHER THAN FROM THE HISTORIES THEN LICENSED BY THE CROWN, HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND CO., , 1898

JOHN WALTER WAYLAND, B. A., PH. D. ASSISTANT AND FELLOW IN HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA. MEMBER OF THE VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, THE SOUTHERN HISTORY ASSOCIATION, AND THE PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN SOCIETY,THE GERMAN ELEMENT OF THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY OF VIRGINIA. , THE MICHIE COMPANY, 1907

WILLIAM ARMSTRONG CROZIER, F.R.S. MEMBER OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA, THE VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, THE TOPSFIELD HISTORICAL SOCIETY, THE NEW YORK GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, ETC., ETC,VIRGINIA COUNTY RECORDS SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY 1721-1800. , FOX, DUFFIELD & COMPANY, 1905

MARGARET V. SMITH,VIRGINIA, 1492-1892; A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE CONTINENT OF NORTH AMERICA, WITH A HISTORY OF THE EXECUTIVES OF THE COLONY AND OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, W.H. LOWDERMILK & CO, 1893

Accessible Preservatives

Accessible Preservatives produces a lustrous protective coating for your leather products while still leaving them pliable and supple. We believe that no other product can satisfy such a wide a variety of uses while providing all the unique benefits of Accessible Preservatives.

Subscriber Feedback

UNC libraries and their users consider Accessible Archives products to be important e-resources for supporting research in African American studies and on the history of the American South and, as a consequence, consistently have made their acquisition a priority.

Luke SwindlerCoordinator of General CollectionsUniversity of North Carolinaat Chapel Hill Libraries

What you have is one of the most important developments in early American research since microfilm.

Dr. James P. Whittenburg, Department of History,The College of William and Mary

Accessible Archives provides one of the most valuable genealogical tools I have ever used.

Barbara Renick, Nationally known lecturer, author, and professional genealogist

I wish all my vendors were as diligent about our account as you are about Wesleyan’s.

This vast reservoir of affordable and wisely chosen on-line material makes possible a great leap forward in virtually any program in American history by speeding up the search process and by greatly expanding the range of easily accessible information.